Yes, we Have Every Right to Be Upset with China, the Government, not the Chinese
by Kara Machowski
From the start of the spread of Covid-19 you would have to be completely ignorant to think that the facts were “all out there” and transparent. By now we already know that the doctor in Wuhan, Li Wenliang, who originally treated patient one and subsequently contracted and died from the virus, was forced into silence. The Chinese government hid facts early on and only one week after the initial lock down on January 23rd in Wuhan did the World Health Organization declare the novel coronavirus as a global health emergency. It was clear that the WHO wasn’t even supplied with all of the correct information regarding the spread and vitality of the virus. Early on the Chinese government denied the authenticity of viral videos in hospitals in Wuhan, stating that they were staged to make it appear like there was an outbreak. They allowed celebrations for the Chinese New Year to continue amongst the outbreak on January 24th, even though the government new of the risk.
Recently we’re learning about citizens and citizen journalists who reported the virus in Wuhan were arrested and some have subsequently disappeared. On the Vice News documentary, Warning from Wuhan, they shined a spot light on journalist, Chen Qiushi, who quickly packed up and traveled from his home city to Wuhan to give a detailed and honest report on the virus for all of China and the world to see. This was when China had 26 deaths and 830 confirmed cases. Chen Qiushi compared the Covid virus to SARS where both were marred with secrecy and both virus' spread in similar ways. He documented overcrowded hospitals and hallways filled with patients not on ventilators, but oxygen machines because of the lack of ventilators. He reported that there was a lack of PPE equipment and even tests.
While America was watching in wonderment as China seemed to control the virus, have amplitude testing, questioning why we weren’t as prepared, Qiushi was actually reporting on the lack of PPE, testing and disappearances of journalists. Qiushi had already prompted a warning from his parents the year prior while reporting on the protests in China.
Qiushi ended up filming Wuhan hospitals at their worst. One video displayed a line outside of a Hubei hospital of at least a hundred where a woman was wailing in tears to be helped but told she would have to wait. At one point she said she would die waiting in line. Another showed a woman with a mask who was holding up a male body in a wheel chair. When Qiushi asked her what was happening she said, “he’s already gone”, “we waited too long for the car (ambulance)”, “we just need to get him to the funeral home(now)”.
Apparently, he caught the attention of the government again because he began to feel as if he were being followed. His name was blacklisted online. His parents were visited by the Chinese government only to have them tell the government that they wanted their son home too. Then one night, when Qiushi was supposed to go to the field hospital, he vanished. His mother released a video begging for anyone to give information on where her son could be. His parents were visited again on February 6th and told he was “under control” and “in isolation”, but as of the story breaking April 19th, Qiushi has yet to return home.
He would later go down as a hero journalist who rushed to the front lines to defend his country, even against its own government. And as Americans we are reminded of our own situation. We have a president who at first, swept the virus under the rug and much like the Chinese Government, he blamed the media and the left of politicizing the virus as an attack on him. Then we had a lack of PPE, testing, aid from the government and told that we can't trust the media, doctors and scientists. In a democracy, the government is acting more like communists. We're told to appreciate and our national government for their help instead of humanely aided.
It’s not only the president, recently Mitch McConnel announced that the government shouldn’t bail out states because the ones that are affected are “blue” states. Again, pitting our leftists vs. the right. Captain Brett Crozier of the USS Theodore Roosevelt was fired recently for “whistleblowing” about an uncontrollable spread of coronavirus on his naval ship. The captain later came down with coronavirus, much like the silenced doctor in Wuhan. Dr. Rick Bright said that he was ousted on Wednesday for speaking up against the use of hydroxychloroquine, the drug highly touted by president Trump but has since been proven to not only be ineffective in a study produced by the US Veterans Health Administration and medical centers, but more deadly for those who have coronavirus and took it. He was later shamed by saying he was let go for promoting the drug.
Take this as a lesson in a few ways. Firstly, yes, it’s okay to blame the Chinese government, but if you spend a second thinking that the Chinese are to blame think about the doctor in Hubei, Li Wenliang, who tried to warn the public and the citizen reporter, Chen Qiushi, who literally risked his life to bring the truth to the world. Those Chinese are heroes, and the Chinese government, much like our National Government in America, is to blame for censoring this virus, for silencing doctors and scientists, for defying set guidelines all to keep a pretty face and heavy pocket.
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